ToL. III. No. 54. 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



1.57 



THYMOL FOR WORMS IN HORSES. 



The following note on the use of thymol for the 

 treatment of vermiceous diseases of horses, by Mr. H. 

 H. Cousins, M.A., F.C.S., Government Analytical and 

 Ao-ricultural Chemist, Jamaica, is taken from the 

 Bidlcfiii of the Jamaica Agricultural De^iartment 

 fc:ir JIarch : — 



Tliyuiol is the most efficient remedy for the various 

 forms of worms and nematodes that attack the horse. The 

 writer has tested it in Jamaica with gratifying results and 

 tliinks it worthy of the attention of all horse owners in the 

 island. 



Bots are a frequent cause of lack of condition in our 

 horses in Jamaica, and other types of vermiceous pests are 

 undoubtedly of frequent occurrence. 



Thymol has a marked taste and smell and special 

 measures are necessary to secure its succes'sful administration. 



For horses we have found it most satisfactory to dissolve 

 the thymol in rectified spirits and to stir up the solution 

 with ten times as much sugar. By evajioration at the heat 

 of boiling water, the spirit is driven off and a uniform 

 mixture of tliymul and sugar is ol)tained. This can easily be 

 administered by mixing it with ground corn or even stirring 

 it up with the usual feed of corn or oats. The dose recom- 

 mended by F. V. Theobald* has Vieen found quite satisfac- 

 tory, both as regards efficiency and freedom from hurt to the 

 horse, viz., 1.5 grains of thymol morning and evening for 

 two successive days. In the country districts it would be 

 well to give a diet of a laxative green food, such as Spanish 

 Needle, to promote the excretion of the parasites. 



The writer considers, from ]iersonal experience with his 

 own horses during the past three years, that the thymol 

 treatment should be regularly administered to all horses once 

 a year, preferably in the spring. The market price of thymol 

 varies considerably; at present the ruling price is 7s. Sd. per 

 111. in Germany. One ounce at 6(7. would provide twenty- 

 eight single doses, so that the actual cost of thymol per horse 

 would not exceed one penny. Supposing 1 oz. of thymol 

 were purchased tliis should be dissolved in a little spirit of 

 wine and the solution stirred well into 10 oz. of white 

 'Albion' sugar. If placed in a tin pan and steamed for a 

 short time, the spirit will evaporate and the residue can be 

 bottled for use. The dose for a horse would be i oz. 

 night and morning for two successive days. 



YELLOW FEVER AND MOSQUITOS. 



The following extract on the relationship between 

 yellow fever and mosquitos is taken from Sir Patrick 

 Manson's lecture on ' The Disease problem of the West 

 Indies,' delivered at the West India Committee Rooms, 

 on March S, to which reference was made in our last 

 issue : — 



As regards yellow fever, although we do not know the 

 germ of the disease, we know where this germ resides and 

 how it is acquired. The germ is so minute that it passes 

 through the closest porcelain filter ; it is ultra-microscopic. 

 But although it is invisible, we know it exists, and that like 

 the germ of malaria it circulates in the blood and is transferred 

 from one victim to another by a certain kind of mosquito. 

 This knowledge, though only some two years old, has already 

 done much, and is destined in the future to do more, for the West 

 Indies and the neighbouring mainland than money subsidies, 

 "banana culture, trade preferences, and all similar methods of 

 ■stimulating prosperity lumped together. The world sliould 



* AijticuUuml Zuiihiijij, p. 484. 



ever be grateful to the American authors of this, the latest 

 and ])erhaps the greatest, triumph of sanitary science. 

 Tlianks to the laljours of these Americans, we know tliat the 

 germ of yellow fever is present in the blood of the patient 

 only during the first three or four days of the disease. If 

 the patient is bitten at this time by the common West Indian 

 tiger mosquito (Stcr/omi/ia fdsciatd), the insect sucks up the 

 germ. In the tissues of tlie mosquito the germ now under- 

 goes certain develoitmental changes, which after the lapse of 

 about a fortniglit enable it, wlien re-introduced into another 

 and non-innnune man by the bite of the mosquito, to 

 nudtijily in the blood, and after three or four days to produce 

 this deadly disease. If, therefore, the yellow fever |)atient 

 is not bitten by the moscpiito in question during tlie first 

 three or four days of )iis illness, or if the healthy man is 

 protected from the bites of tlie infected mosquito, the latter 

 will not contract the disease, even though he lives in the 

 same room as the patient, or wears the same clothes, or even 

 sleeps in the same bed. Acting on this knowledge, the 

 American sanitarians have rid Havanna of yellow fever. 

 For the first time in nearly 200 years tliere is now no yellow 

 fever in that city, once the hotbed of this disease, a hotbed 

 from wliich many devasting epidemics have sjiread all over 

 the West Indies and to many parts of the United States, 

 Mexico, and Central South America. 



STOCK SALE AT GRENADA. 



In the previous volume of the A</riculfural jS^ews 

 (p. .57) an account was given of the first annual sale of 

 stock at the Woodlands Stock Farm, Grenada. The 

 following account of the second of these sales has been 

 contributed by ]Mr. W. M. Smith, Acting Agricultural 

 Instructor at Grenada : — 



The second annual stock sale at ' Woodlands ' estate 

 took place on Fridays, JIarch 25. Owing to the inclemency 

 of the weather, the attendance of intending purchasers was 

 very small. The sale commenced at 2 p.m. with the offer of 

 sixty Plymouth Rock fowls put up in lots of three (one cock 

 and two hens). These were mostly young birds and realized 

 an average price of 18.«. per lot, the highest price paid for 

 one lot being 254-. A Plymouth Rock hen and eight chicks 

 sold for 18s. 6d. 



Thirty white Guinea fowls, in lots of si.x, were sold at an 

 average price of 21s. per lot. 



One hundred and twenty sheep were next offered in lots 

 of twenty, but as ]io higher bid than £10 per lot was made, 

 they were withdrawn. I understand that they have since 

 been sold in one lot at )$.3'50 each. 



Of ten horses offered, five sold at the following rates : — ■ 



A three year old half-bred filly £40 



A four year old half-bred mare £34 IDs. 



A two and a half year old half-bred colt ... £29 10s. 



A „ „ „ filly £18 10s. 



An aged American draft horse £15 10s. 



A large number of half-bred Hereford and Zebu cattle 

 were offered, of which about twenty were sold at an average 

 price of £7 each. These were principally milch cows and 

 heifers. 



A few pure-bred Berkshire pigs were offered, of which 

 two sows were sold at £4 10s. and £5 respectively. 



The results, on the ivhole, were not as satisfactory a.s 

 la.st year. There was very little competition, and, conse- 

 c^uently, the prices realized were comparatively low, and 

 a large number of the animals were withdrawn. The stock 

 offered this year was not quite so fine as that of last year. 



